honeymoon, day four

I know you've all been waiting with baited breath...well, here's the entry you've been waiting for! And I've got a co-author today--my hubby! I gave him a writing assignment earlier this week (wouldn't it be great to have a writing teacher as a wife?), and I've interspersed what he wrote with my own memories. This is for us as much as it is for you, so enjoy, as we will in years to come!

Day four saw us taking a train to Limerick in the morning. When the cabbie dropped us off at Dublin Heuston Railway Station, he cautioned us with a grave look of concern on your face, "Be careful in Limerick. Hold on to your purse and wallet, and be careful where you go. It's full of crime out there." And Al immediately started to worry. He made sure his under-the-shirt fanny pack for money (yes, I'm telling on you for wearing it) was securely tied around his waist and out of site. I was expecting Detroit or worse, but I ended up loving Limerick. It had a cute pedestrian shopping area with brick streets (although not the best in the way of shops), a gorgeous church, and (of course) numerous pubs and bars. Al's memories as we got off the train and walked the block and a half to the hotel:

that old old place across from the hotel that was for sale,,, look like an old bank.
did we eat at the nasty fast food place the first day, then walked down the nice street with the people question us or welcomed us then we walked down by the river,, cool, then over to the castle,, stopped at the church,, which was cool, then got really creepy with the way the cemetery got dark, silent, rainy, and know one was around. we saw a couple of bums at the castle,,they were a little shady,, the housing on that side of the river was a little more run down, but not bad.

I don't remember the place across from the hotel, unless it was the place on the left as we walked through the square. We stayed at Pery's Best Western in the Georgian part of town, the cheapest place we stayed the entire trip...well, besides the cottage that was free! (We'll get to that eventually.) The "nasty fast food place" was some burger joint that was trying to be its own version of McDonald's, but half of their items weren't on the menu and what was on the menu was--well, Al's right. Disgusting. But we were hungry. When we "walked down the nice street" we were in the pedestrian shopping district and I made Al turn around and go back to the hotel with me so I could get my camera. I had forgotten it, and loved the scenery. The people who "questioned us" were from some group--a charity? I can't really remember now. I just know it wasn't religious. We actually saw two churches that day. One was in town, at the far end of the shopping district and at the end of one of the streets. I've put a picture of that here because it was kindof cool how you can turn the corner and run into a building that's several hundred years old and has a gothic feel to it. I also remember that there were all these little bakeries around that made me wish I hadn't eaten--the smells coming from them were heavenly, mixtures of sweet smells and smells of warm bread. I went into one wanting a hot chocolate, because it was a little chilly and wet that day, but they didn't have any and I didn't feel like drinking coffee.

The river was the River Shannon. I've read before that newlyweds should take a dip in the River Shannon to bring good luck to their marriage, but we settled for taking pictures of ourselves on the shore and on a bridge over the river. One of my favorite pictures from the honeymoon was there, and I've posted it here. The castle was King George's castle, and really wasn't that impressive in the way of castles. I can't remember if it was the castle that looked like it was a failed tourist center or a building close by, but whatever it was was closed up and looked deserted. The castle was the only thing that reminds me of Detroit, now that I think back on it. The "bums" on the steps drinking and smoking, the broken bottles, and the graffiti on the walls remind me of home sweet home (sorry, but I do love Detroit). I remember walking back towards the river and having the walls of the homes literally at the edges of the slanting sidewalks (the street I'm thinking of was on a hill). Most of the windows had some type of white lace curtains, thin enough to let the light in but thick enough to keep prying eyes out.

That "creepy" cemetery in the second church was one of my favorite spots in Limerick. It seemed to be right out of a Buffy episode (and here we have the degradation of Irish culture with a reference to modern-day pop culture. Sorry, but I love Buffy!). We thought we were on a path that would lead us out of the churchyard another way, but nope!

then we stopped for a few pints at the place by the river then ate upstairs, I liked the other couple that met at the bar, the guy was on a motorcycle and he picked up groceries and brought them in with him, and he was soaking wet. food was good up stairs.
then we stopped at that other bar, that was suppose to be 80’s music.. that place kinda stunk.. but it was all right.
where did we go after that?

The groceries were a big bag of fresh produce. Such an odd thing to see someone carry into a pub. They sat next to him for an hour while he drank his...Michelob? It was a light beer, and I think that pub did have Michelob or something light like that. Al might have liked the food upstairs, but I didn't. I ordered fish and chips, thinking I'd get a wonderfully greasy dish of fried fish. It was potato crusted and dry instead, and the fact that it was probably fresh didn't make up for the disappointment of the way it didn't meet my expectations. I couldn't eat it. I don't even think the fries were good.

The "other bar" was definitely not what we expected. We saw a sign on the door saying that they had retro punk on Thursdays, and since it was Thursday, we went in. It was modern (definitely not what you'd call an Irish pub) and the young'un behind the counter had no idea what a Black and Tan was. They didn't have Smithwick's (you can't really find Harps in most pubs or bars in Ireland, so they make B&Ts with Smithwick's when they know what B&Ts are). And the music? Definitely not what we were expecting. I think the "dj" (bartender?) was playing whatever he felt like playing. There were a few people there, but I don't remember much about them. I remember more about the decor--chairs and booths on platforms and, if I remember correctly, covered in cow hides or something like that, mixed with high ceilings and modern lighting and accessories at the bar.

After that, we went off to try to find a pub that was supposed to have good music according to our tour maps. We never found it and ended up in a pub with a few locals in the other room, and everyone but the bartender ignoring us. By that time, I was tired of drinking, so I sat there while Al watched some sports game on the television and had a pint. Then we headed back to the room where I tried to get Al to watch La Femme Nikita on the portable DVD and he fell asleep. I had a harder time sleeping, because we had the window open (again, no air conditioning) and there was a bar across the street from our hotel with loud music. Later that night (I think it was that night, and not the next) we woke up to the sound of a drunk who was obviously locked out of his room, and a few minutes later by the sound of a porter coming by to tell the drunk he was disturbing the rooms around him. Ironically, it was the porter who woke me up the second time, not the drunk.